Night and day

Saturday night we put our kids to be completely exasperated with all three of them. They make lots of noise, they argue with each other, they block us out when we give them instructions, they dawdle around at the worst possible times, they forget the books they need for weekend homework, etc. and so on. I told my husband Saturday night that I didn't want to be a parent anymore, I was all done. He just laughed at me and said "Me too".

Sunday morning the kids were different. All of them. The little ones slept late and then once they got up, they simply crawled into bed with us and turned the TV on. They didn't whine about being hungry or argue with each other over who got the green and blue pillow. They played nicely all morning long...drawing, Play Doh, trains, Leapster games, in the sandbox, riding bikes. The big one spent most of the day reading a book for a book report and then played with friends. I took the little ones out in the evening. We went to two different parks and walked in the woods and played on the play sets. They didn't argue at all over whose turn it was on the swing or who got the red cup at snack time. They cleaned up their toys and went to bed without incident. Tonight I told my husband that I adored being a parent and maybe he should not have had that vasectomy.

Europe

I went to a meeting last night about a trip to Europe through Hayden's language arts teacher. She organizes these student group trips every other year or so and since Hayden is in the advanced content class, she gets the invitation to go. And parents can come too.

At first the cost for both of us going seemed crazy and bummed me out. But as I listened to the itinerary last night and heard them tell stories of previous trips, I kind of forgot about how much it would cost. I left feeling very, very excited. To travel around Europe with my daughter and some of her friends seems like such a great opportunity. It will be worth every penny I'm sure and the memories we'll have are going to be awesome. And the pictures I will take.....man!

12 days...London, Paris, Vienna, Munich, Lucerne...I'm on it. I've already changed the cable package to a cheaper one since we hardly watch TV anyway. $100 per month for fucking TV? That's crazy. I'll pass.

Shoes

I went on my annual fall shoe shopping binge at Zappos.com. I came away with these:

These are Uggs and let me just say...LOVE THEM. No socks required which is great for me because I can throw them on when I need to just run out and I don't have to go back upstairs yet again to fetch socks.

These cowgirl boots are awesome. They are so comfortable and required no breaking in at all and they are just flat out cute. Rocket Dog represents!

Blue suede boots. What's not to love about that?

Comfy boots, again did not require any breaking in.

Impulse buy. Fun sneakers but certainly not for running 5Ks or anything. Rocket Dog again.

Dude, pink plaid Mary Jane's. How could I not get these? Awesome. I love Rocket Dog shoes.

Finally, the boots that Hayden stole. Technically they are mine but I went ahead and relinquished control over them. They look really great on her and she can pull off these boots with skirts better than me. And, Rocket Dog....again. I think I have about ten pairs of Rocket Dog shoes now.

Time to upgrade

A new camera, due to arrive Thursday. With an amazing lens.

The Canon 5D with the EF 24-105 L lens. You thought I took a lot of pictures before....just you wait.